Reality
by Zosie
Summary: Reality TV is a new low in my opinion. Whenever we say they can't get any lower they take it as a challenge. This is a story about where I think it will go, someday. Apologies to Twilight for using their characters.
1. Chapter 1

Reality

Victoria's POV

xxxxxxxxxx

"Goddamn it," I muttered as I slammed down the phone, and reached for my cigarettes. James Hunter, my work partner, sighed and shook his head. He lifted his feet down from where they had been resting, and sat up straight, stretching his arms above his head.

"We got canned," he stated flatly.

I didn't answer. It was obvious.

I eased a couple of cancer sticks from the packet and James leaned forward across my desk and lit them, then claimed one for himself.

We looked at one another in silence for a long minute, the only sounds in the room were the sounds of us exhaling and polluting the atmosphere, and the silent sounds of despair.

Three Men and A Baby, our latest reality tv program, had just been cancelled.

I knew it was a show with a clear use by date, but we had hoped it would be picked up for a second season. The theme had been, our female star had spent a rather long sweaty evening with three bachelors of her choice from our pool of twenty, and then we had taken the viewers on her nine month journey to motherhood, all the while letting them get to know the three possible fathers, or sperm donors as James called them, and the semi final revealed who was the Baby Daddy after a highly anticipated paternity test, which we had delayed until after the actual delivery.

"I knew we should have fixed the result. They all wanted Riley to win," I sighed. "Why did we poll them every three months and then show the actual father was Marcus? He always polled the lowest."

"Reality tv," James drawled, blowing a cloud of toxic smoke into my face. "It ain't real if you rig the outcome."

"Bullshit, they were loving it until that point," I answered crossly. "The semi final had the highest ratings of the whole season, except for the first episode, of course. All the perverts tuned it for that one."

"And the finale rated lower than anything else on tv ever," James growled.

So much for viewer loyalty. A mere handful had hung around to see Jane introduce her newborn to its biological dad, and walk off into the sunset holding hands.

Nobody cared, once they knew the firm favourite Riley's sperm had failed to win the race.

I had really hoped we could do a second season. I had a few 'one hit wonders' in mind for the next gene pool of possible fathers.

"So, what's Plan B?" James asked, stubbing out the bright red fire on the tip of his cigarette seemed symbolic.

The red hot tip, smothered and killed in the ashtray. One minute it had been the driving force, the deliverer of soothing nicotine and whatever else was trying to kill us, and now it was nothing.

I nervously tapped my pen against the edge of the desktop.

"Another show about WAGS is out," I sighed. Too many of those existed already. They'd even gotten down to wives and girlfriends of some minor league baseball stars that nobody had ever heard of. That well was dry.

"We should do something cute with puppies," James laughed.

He had a point. Our oppositions reality show about prison life with lifers training companion dogs, saved from certain death in kill shelters, was still running in it's eighth season.

"We could up the ante and give them baby wolfs to train. You know. The whole train or be eaten by your dog scenario," James laughed.

"Don't be too cocky, it could come down to that," I replied.

"Let's go grab a drink and do some brainstorming in our favourite bar," James suggested.

I nodded. Why the hell not? Alcohol, after all, was the answer to everything. Or at least it had the power to make even a lousy idea seem possible.

Xxxxxxxxxxxx

James slammed down the shot glass on the bar, and then lined it up carefully beside it's predecessors. All eight of them. Four of mine, four of his.

"What about a show where we follow some High School nerd and watch her being relieved of her virginity?" he said slowly, enunciating every word clearly with much effort. "I mean, we all like sex. And we all have a hidden voyeur inside us, no matter how much we deny it. What's the most eagerly anticipated part of any tv series or movie? When the two people we like the most finally get down and get it on."

I didn't dismiss it immediately, like I had his last three suggestions. He may have something there. But how to wrap it in an original way that would lure the viewers in?

"Who's the most popular female teen girl who has at least a chance of still being a virgin?" I questioned, not altogether sarcastically.

Surely there was one almost star whose flame has flickered and not died completely who had hung on to her innocence in this grimy world called Hollywood.

James laughed.

"I can give you a list of quite a few whom I personally know didn't," he sneered with a wink.

James was pretty popular amongst the up and coming hopefuls who assumed he was someone they needed to sleep with to get ahead. He was a pretty good bullshit artist. When you consider at best they'd only earn a ticket onto one of our rather less than successful reality shows at best. Certainly no guarantee it would ever even each the screen. Plenty hadn't.

"Hey, maybe that would be a show, "I quipped. "All the young stars who visited James' bed.

We could call it 'Who is under the covers tonight?."

"I'd be in that," James snarked as he raised his next shot to his lips.

"Seriously, we have to come up with something," I sighed, reaching for a cigarette. James put his hand over mine, halting its path.

"No smoking allowed, remember."

"Damn all these anti smoking laws," I slurred. How was I supposed to function without a coffin nail in my hand? Tell me that.

James sat up straight, suddenly, a grin spreading across his face.

"Bella Swan. She's our answer."

"Bella Swan?" I questioned as my brain tried to picture who James was talking about.

"You remember her? She was in that lame vampire show that never got picked up. I'm pretty sure she is a virgin."

"And how would you know that?" I asked as images flicked in my head. "Was she that Marilyn Monroe look alike? Or the little one with the spiky black hair that danced rather than walked?"

"Nope. The one who looked like a future librarian. The one I wanted to buy a litter of kittens for so she would accept her fate and become a junior cat lady," he replied.

"Oh, I get it. The one who turned you down," I laughed.

"Despite all my many efforts," he sighed. "I suspected she was a lesbian. I mean, who could resist all this?" He did his pose, showing off his bulging biceps that usually got him a home run every time.

"Seriously, I have never met anyone else who managed to get it on with her, and I know a lot of very successful players."

"So, Bella Swan could be our Last Virgin Left In Hollywood?" I mused thoughtfully. "Who is her agent?"

"Not Hollywood. Let's shoot it back 'home on the farm'. Let's do it in Forks."

"Where the hell is Forks?"

Xxxxxxxxxx

Morning burst through my window a lot sooner than I wanted, and I rolled over to escape it's invading beams. My progress was suddenly halted by something firm and solid. I opened an eye and shook my head.

"Not again," I chastised myself. God knows how many diseases this guy has picked up and spread around in his sexual conquests. I should stick to my guns and never let him into my bed ever again. Just as I swore every other morning I'd woken up to find him there.

"Coffee," James drawled from under the pile of blankets that covered most of him, Thank Goodness. In my weakened state the last thing I needed was to be seduced again by his fit and beautiful body.

I mentally congratulated Bella Swan. She was a better woman than me. And I knew James though and through. She had just depended on her instincts and refused his offer. Me, I should know better.

"So, what's the plan?" James asked, propping himself up against my bedhead and sipping the delicious source of the alluring aroma.

"I'm not sure yet. I'm thinking we , and by we I mean you, follow her around with your camera, and film her as she goes about her everyday life. Get the viewers to warm to her and want to know more."

"That should be good as a sleep aid. Maybe we can call it "How To Get 8 Hours Solid Sleep Without Drugs," he snarked.

"No James. I Googled her. She's about to turn eighteen. She's never been photographed with any boy. I think your assessment that she is a virgin could well be right, and if it's not, her number is low. Maybe the odd quick fumble with her crushes. I don't see any evidence that she's gone the whole 'I'm a strong independant woman who can sleep with whoever I want.' type."

"But how do we make her interesting? Believe me, you won't get a single red blooded male watching a show about a girl who doesn't put out. Maybe the odd church group of frustrated old ladies whose husbands have done a runner with their hot young secretaries, but are there enough of those to get the ratings we need?"

"I'm thinking we pepper her path with a bunch of red hot young wannabe actors posing as fellow students, and promise whoever gets her into their bed a starring role in some future show. Sort of The Bachelor type thing? I mean, I fully get that just the chance to be the one bedding the Ice Princess won't get us too many takers, but who could resist the idea of ending up in that kind of scenario? Surely we will have hotties biting our hands off to get the chance, with that as the eventual prize."

"If it ever eventuates," James growled, fully knowing it would never happen.

"They don't need to know that," I snarked back.

"You're a cruel, heartless bitch," James replied.

"Well, if it gets us a winning reality show, isn't that the main point?"

"The only point, indeed," he agreed.

Xxxxxxx

Bella Swan was exactly how James had described her. I could think of a dozen roles she could play but they all involved unicorns and rainbows and skipping across the hills to the sound of music.

Seductress was definitely not a role that came to mind.

Maybe we could do something with her waist length mousy brown hair? Put some red highlights in it? And had the girl never heard of make up? With that pasty white skin she needed all the help she could buy.

"So, Bella. Are you interested?" I asked, not sure if I really wanted her to say yes.

I was seeing her through James' eyes, and truly, could we pay these potential lotharios enough to get them interested in bedding her? Would the audience care?

"I am looking for a new project," she admitted. Of course she was, and with her history of making shows that never made it to opening night, she couldn't be fussy. But I let the pretence continue.

"I kind of like the idea of something small and indie," she added. I resisted the urge to slap her face.

Okay, maybe our productions had rarely made the big time, but at least they got shown. Mostly.

"Well , it's a new concept and we are getting in on the ground floor. Nobody else has thought of this type of true reality show. Nothing faked or fixed, just a real actual story of a young girl's awakening to life," I slyly added. I doubt she will sign if I spell out the real details. We want to watch you have sex for the first time, for the viewers pleasure, not yours.

"So, like my journey from girlhood to womanhood," she replied, somewhat puzzled, as we all were, as to why anyone would want to watch that.

Naturally much of the series would be shot before being released, and hopefully we could tease the viewers with a preview of all the guys we were putting her way, and have them hoping one particular male, their favourite, would be The One. Heck, we might even rush the pair of them into a hasty wedding in the finale. And if she got pregnant along the way, bang! Series two: all the greatly exaggerated drama of her pregnancy and childbirth. Would Bella need a c section to save her baby, and her life? Watch series 2 to find out.

I had learned from my mistakes and knew this new show had to be carefully orchestrated.

We needed to control the situation this time and push her into the arms of Mr Right, as chosen by the viewers. Nothing could be left to chance. Bella Swan would be choosing the guy we had already decided by viewers polls, to grace her bed.

"And it won't disrupt my studies? I am about to become a senior at Forks High School. I need to concentrate on my schoolwork and earn myself a scholarship to college."

"Don't worry about it. James will blend in , into the background. You will barely notice him, and in time, you will forget he exists. And as for college, I'm pretty sure what we pay you will cover even one of the better colleges."

"Wow," she exclaimed, clearly impressed. And we had suddenly gone from some crazy people with a mediocre idea to the source of a college fund. She was in.

"I think it sounds like a fun type of show. Something I'd watch myself," she uttered.

"Great, sign here," I urged, pushing the paperwork towards her, holding my breath. This was the make or break moment. If she insisted on getting her so called agent, notably absent here today, or lawyer to read it through, they would soon inform her she was agreeing to us filming any and all aspects of her life, public and personal, and choosing whatever bits we wanted to show on national tv. No holds barred. No chance for her to edit out what she didn't want the world to witness.

James knocked loudly on the door as I handed Bella my best pen, and she hesitated, clearly thinking it through and maybe having second thoughts.

"I should get my….."

The door opened.

"I've got Chloe Grace waiting for her her interview, she was held up in traffic," he said happily. Fakely. No actor of Chloe's standing would consider crap like we made for a second. "She is our first choice….."

I pretended to reach for my pen back, and Bella took the bait, and quickly signed on the dotted line.

Xxxxxxx

James had rounded up a dozen or so young lads who had responded to our ad, and the top six finalists he had chosen were sitting outside my office. I was well aware they all saw this as a stepping stone to what they really wanted; their own reality tv show where they got to choose from the proverbial '72 black eyed virgins'. I wondered how many of them had any idea the reward in Heaven had originally been 72 grapes, not virgins. It was a mistake in translation that lured young healthy men to their doom so cheerfully. Must be quite the letdown to arrive into the afterlife and be handed a plate of fruit.

"Send the first candidate in," I ordered.

James ushered a tall, muscular Native American with the most beautiful waist length shiny black hair through the door. He smirked at me and winked, no doubt referring to our completely drunken conversation in the bar last night about casting couches and how I should get the leftovers, the ones Bella didn't choose.

I opened my mouth but no sound came out.

"This is Jacob Black. He lives on the res down near La Push beach."

"Perfect," my mouth uttered, without permission.

"Um, the beach, La Push, it's quite, um, perfect, " I stuttered, my face glowing red.

"You've been to our beach?" Jacob Black asked, grinning, flashing a mouthful of the whitest teeth on Earth at me.

"Oh, sure, yeah, no, " I replied. "I've, um, seen photos…."

"You should visit," he suggested. "No photograph could do it justice."

"Sure, I could do that," I said, pulling myself back under control. If Bella Swan didn't fall for the charms of this body, I mean, man, then she had severe problems. I could see the whole show playing out in my head already. It ended with two little black haired Jacob Black mini me's running along the shoreline, laughing and calling to their Mom and Dad, Jacob and me..I mean, Bella.

"So, you are interested in our show?" I managed to articulate. I kicked myself internally. Of course he was, why else would he be here?

"What do you need to ask me?" he prompted.

"Oh, nothing. I'm sure you are exactly what I, we, are looking for. For the show."

James snickered and handed Jacob the contract, which he glanced through and signed, grinning to himself the whole time.

I suddenly hated the whole politically correct atmosphere that had invaded every part of our lives these days. No casting couch. Gone forever. Sexual harassment and all that.

I sat down in a daze and barely noticed anything at all about the other five applicants.

A letterman type, Mike someone.

A guy with blonde curly overlong hair who was possibly stoned. Jasper Whitlock. He brought his guitar with him.

The jock, from Forks of all places, Emmett McCarty, with his black shiny curls, and cheeky grin. He looked like a whole lot of fun, and trouble. Just my type…

I slapped myself and wondered why the heck I insisted on living in Hollywood when some backwater town in Washington grew specimens like him and Jacob Black.

Eric someone, I didn't catch his surname but he looked like the kind of guy Bella might notice. Nerdy. Quiet.

Ben Cheney. Also studious, nerdy type. Possibly had a cat.

If Bella was legally blind she might go for either of those two.

Everyone was signed up and now we just had to work on the rewrite of the somewhat bland and boring script we had used as our 'first draft', not wanting to show our hand and have our idea stolen out from under us.

That had happened before. We had come up with a winning formula only to have the powers that be turn us down then produce an identical show based on our idea, with a different team, by 'coincidence'. I was aware they were all dismissing what we had touted as this new show, as something not worthy of any consideration at all. But we would show them.

James and I would knock their socks off, when they saw the final cut.

Oh yeah, we were going where no reality show had gone before.

Sure, plenty of them had shown sleazy 'under the doona' sex and even outright orgies; hadn't we started 3 Men and A Baby with a foursome ourselves? But I was sure we had hit the lowest common denominator too many times already, and viewers wanted something different. They could watch porn anytime thanks to the internet.

What they wanted was a show to remind them of their youth. Their first love. Their first time.

Back before the divorces, the disastrous relationships that had gone bad, the mistakes, the cheating, the crap choices that had gotten them to where they are today.

Sitting at home alone on Saturday night, with their bowl of popcorn and their best friend the dog, watching other people live the life they wished they had chosen.


	2. Chapter 2

Reality

Part Two

Bella Swan slammed the door of her trusty but rusty truck and stepped self consciously from the cab, looking around to find where James and his camera were waiting.

He sighed and stopped shooting, walking up to her shaking his head.

"Bella, remember what we talked about? I don't exist. Only you exist. You and all your fellow students. Okay? Now get back in your heap of a car and let's do it right this time. Never ever look at me, okay?"

She blushed a soft shade of scarlet and climbed back into her truck.

This time she exited stiffly, hesitantly, but without seeking out the camera and James relaxed. He wished she would relax and forget he was there but it was the first shoot and she would soon get used to it. He could edit out the awkward bits and just keep the more natural shots anyway. It might take a lot of work but this was their final chance of coming up with something good, or he suspected they would both be looking for other employment. Like flipping burgers. Not that he hadn't done that before, but he was sure Victoria would never lower herself to actual physical labour.

She was creative and artistic and all those things that meant she worked with her brain and not her hands.

He trailed along behind Bella and watched as the students greeted her like the Homecoming Queen. He knew for a fact she had never been popular before and the entire staff and students had been briefed about the show, and mostly been gobsmacked when they were told who the star was, and now Bella was everyone's best friend, it seemed.

A brunette in a short, tight skirt and midriff top pranced over to Bella, her eyes looking straight at James the whole time.

"Bella, I missed you so much over break. It's great to see you again. We should catch a movie or something," she gushed, tossing her long brown hair back over her shoulders and putting her arms behind her waist to accentuate a rather nice set of boobs.

Bella looked beyond shocked, and James instantly realised this 'best friend' was clearly one of the A list who had not known the lowly Bella even existed before today.

"Um, sure, Jessica," she replied, clearly puzzled.

Jessica smiled and pursed her lips , winking broadly, before skipping away.

James had a feeling he was on a promise here and decided to have a chat to this Jessica and inform her of ways she could be a major player in this production if she played her cards right. Sure, she was probably eighteen to his twenty five but who cared these days. So long as they were above the age of consent, anything was possible.

Bella walked across the open room towards her group, and James had already picked them out himself.

A dowdy looking black haired girl with black rimmed glasses, and her equally unattractive dirty blonde haired friend sat at the table . In front of them they had laid out their homework books and were clearly discussing the square root of pi or something equally riveting.

"Hi Bella," one said, moving further along the bench seat so the girl could slide in beside them

"Hey Angela. Lauren. How was your vacation?" Bella asked, putting her bookbag on the table.

 _Please say you went on a wild orgy spree or did some skydiving. Surprise me._ James begged internally.

"Actually we had a great time. The whole family went to the beach and stayed in a caravan for two weeks. I helped my Mom with the twins . It's so much fun experiencing the world through their eyes. It was the first time they had walked on sand. So funny. Josh loved the water and kept trying to dash straight in over his head but Isaac was very cautious, as usual. I think the sound of the waves scared him. I spent most of the time trying to talk him into letting me put him down out of my arms, poor little mite. He's such a nervous little thing."

"But so cute," Lauren piped in. "I wish my parents would have another kid so I got to play Pretend Mommy."

"That sounds so sweet, I'm glad you had a good time," Bella replied, and James yawned. He glanced around for a weapon to stick in his eyes and end the agony but nobody had so much as a fork.

"So, Bella, have you seen the new students?" Lauren asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We have new students? How many? We should go and make them feel welcome," Bella replied.

"Well, I've met one, Michael Newton. He is living with his aunt and uncle. They own the hardware store."

 _Oh great, boring Mike. Move along._

"I have heard another one, Jasper Whitlock, is in a band," Angela said, as if being in a band automatically meant the guy was some evil seducer, out to steal their collective virginities.

 _Well, technically speaking, that was indeed the case when it came to Bella. But the other two were beyond safe._

James decided it was time to leave this scintillating conversation and get a few random shots of the school and the other students before these girls actually got the courage up to go meet the newbies. He had a feeling it may take a while.

He scanned the area, pretty sure that if Victoria hadn't hired the wannabes then Bella would have graduated very much intact; there wasn't a decent looking dude amongst these students, and he suddenly understood her pureness may not be of her own choice. Maybe she just couldn't stomach the thought of sleeping with any of these slack jawed yokels.

 _Whoa._

James blinked in surprise. So, Rosalie Hale and the little spiky haired girl from the flop show Bella had been in lived here in Forks too.

No wonder it had been an all girl vampire production. He was faintly surprised it hadn't worked just because the delicious Rosalie had been the star. Now there was a girl who would be leaving this town the moment she graduated.

Maybe he should give her his address in case she needed a place to stay in the future? He could always try Victoria's line and promise her a starring role in whatever type of show she was interested in.

The two girls were looking across the room at Bella Swan and clearly were mystified why she had gotten this gig. He was pretty certain Rosalie would never have qualified for the whole vestal virgin role.

Even the little pixie girl looked like she could snap her fingers and have any man she wanted. He just hoped she was shopping in another town. Maybe Seattle. Not wasting her talent and good looks around here on any of the unworthies.

He watched Rosalie fighting to control herself when the pixie suggested they should go say hi to Bella. Clearly Rosalie didn't like slumming. She walked across the room as if there was a firing squad awaiting her arrival.

The other one was smiling in what seemed like a sincere manner, and just about jumping out of her skin.

"Hi Bella. I'm Alice. Alice Brandon. We were in that show with you? Not that we ever did a scene together. Pity it wasn't ever shown, hey? Why don't you come sit with us? I have a feeling you and I are going to be great friends."

Bella looked at her dowdy pair in disbelief, but Angela pushed her from the seat and encouraged her to go talk to the A Team.

Lauren looked crestfallen but Angela shot her a warning glance and kicked her in the ankle for good measure.

"Bella could be our ticket in as well if Rosalie decides she likes her," she hissed. Lauren smiled and waved an awkward wave at the trio as they made their way back to the better side of the room. Where the beautiful people sat. There weren't many of them.

A tall handsome slim guy with untidy reddish hair was laughing behind his hand at Rosalie and Co.

Beside him sat one of the ring ins, the jock. He must have come into town early and met some locals before school began. He and the golden haired boy seemed at ease with one another. Even James could see the beauty this local lad possessed. He was movie star magic. Maybe while he was here he could sign him up for some future project. Maybe he was the silver lining in this pointless charade.

"Hey Jasper, come sit with us," he called as the grungy looking musician walked into the room.

Both greeted him like they knew him already and the trio sat there clearly laughing about Rosalie Hale having to suffer with Bella's company.

James looked at the three guys and wondered how anyone believed any of them were still in High School. They were a world away from the scrawny regular students. Maybe this other one was a late edition Victoria had neglected to tell him about. She sometimes managed to do some 'private interviews' of her own before introducing him to her favourite picks.

He realised he had taken a lot more film of the A listers than the general population and figured he had better find Eric and Mike and the other one. Just in case the impossible happened and Bella went for a loser type. You never know. She was clearly feeling very out of place sitting with the two most attractive girls in the state.

As he walked past the table where the three girls were sitting at, he managed to stifle a laugh.

"That's decided. You are coming to my place straight after school today and Rosalie and I are doing a makeover. You will love it," the little one chirped.

 _Good luck with that. I hope you have a magic wand in your makeup bag._

"Really, Alice?" Bella moaned. "I can't, not today. Charlie's out fishing and I will have to get all the fish ready for the freezer."

 _Oh for Heaven's sake, woman, we have to get you laid in ten episodes or less, go with it. You need all the help you can get._

Predictably Mike, Eric and Ben were huddled together over a desk in the school library and looked so at home nobody would ever suspect they were actors. They blended in with the crowd and James mentally wrote them off. It was a two horse race. Either the big buff Emmett, or the hipster musician Jasper would nail the prize. Unless the auburn haired guy beat them to it.

How ironic if a local lad did the deed and could have saved them the whole expense of the set up.

James made his way back to the outdoor room where Bella was and shook his head at the sound of a hundred or more teenage students all gabbing at once. How did they even hear what the person beside them was saying, with all these voices filling the available air space?

Suddenly the noise stopped and James shot back into his role and started filming. Clearly something had happened.

He almost laughed out loud as he saw what had caught their attention.

The Quileute boy had just arrived and was getting off his shiny black motorbike. He took his helmet off and shook his long silky hair out free, like in a shampoo commercial.

The students collectively gasped.

Some of the girls looked faint.

How could James have forgotten about Jacob Black?

 _And the winner is…._

Xxxxxxxxx

Pretty much every female, and some of the males, stood as one and rushed out towards their new student. It was like watching a celebrity on a red carpet event. Except for the fact he stood at about six foot four, he would have been lost in the sea of worshippers.

Rosalie Hale left the table, ignoring little Alice's pleas to stay, and the crowd parted like the Red Sea to let her through. Even the arrival of Jacob Black had not made these people giddy enough to ignore their Queen.

She strode forward until she stood about six inches in front of him, and he threw one of his megawattage smiles at her. Despite her confidence and self assured nature, even she seemed to go a little weak at the knees.

She shook herself and held out a perfectly manicured hand.

"Rosalie Hale. Come sit at our table."

It was a Royal Command, and Jacob bowed his head for a moment, then he caught sight of James and shot him a grin.

James knew exactly what he was saying.

 _Fuck me. I'll settle for second prize any day of the week._

James reverted to his original conclusion.

It would be Emmett, or Jasper.

Or the red haired God.

Jacob was going to be otherwise engaged.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxx

James watched Bella as Rose and Jake neared the table, and he smiled as he saw her reaction. He knew she had just ruled him as being so far above her and out of her league that she would never consider him.

Suddenly he hoped the makeover would be a good one. Nobody would watch a show where a bore like Mike Newton bagged the girl. These girls had to transform Bella Swan and build her confidence to the point where she would think Jasper or Emmett could be her Prince Charming.

At the moment he was pretty sure she would even have trouble speaking, let alone anything else, to even Mike or Eric.

The morning siren sounded and the students starting to leave the area, trooping off to class. James was free to shoot classes in progress but silently, unobtrusively.

He overtook Bella and arrived first at her classroom, sitting at the back, filming as the students entered. Most seemed to know their prearranged seating plan, and only Bella hesitated at the front.

The teacher spoke to her and waved a hand towards the middle row of desks.

"But I have always sat with Angela and Lauren," she murmured.

"Time to widen your horizons then," Mr Banner replied, with a nervous laugh as he glanced at the camera and self consciously preened. He pointed again to the centre table, where Emmett, Jasper and Jacob were seated, along side a single spare chair.

Bella blushed and walked slowly towards her seat.

Jacob Black stood up and bowed.

"Where would you prefer to sit?" he asked, offering her a choice of chair.

Rose Hale jumped up from the table across the row and grabbed the auburn haired guy sitting beside her.

"Edward wants to swap seats." she stated, pushing his bookbag into his hands and forcing him across the aisle to the other table as she grabbed Jake's arm and pulled him towards the now vacant chair beside her.

Mr Banner merely shrugged and called the class to attention.

James pretty much dozed through the lesson on whatever creepy crawlies they were looking at under their microscopes. He only shook himself awake now and again to get some footage of Bella Swan, sitting between Jasper and Edward, hiding her face from both by allowing her hair to fall into a curtain between them.

 _Ten episodes? I think we may need to drug this chick with whatever the female form of Viagra is._

Xxxxxxx

"Well, how is it coming along?" Victoria asked. James held his cell phone a little further from his ear, for it's own sake. An entire week and Bella still tried to melt into the woodwork whenever any male at all was seated beside her.

"Should be some progress this weekend. A couple of girls have bullied her into letting them treat her as a Barbie Doll and glam her up."

"You mean a Midge," Victoria replied.

"Midge?" he queried.

"Barbie's far less attractive friend," Victoria informed him. "They aren't miracle workers."

"Why did you even choose her if you dislike her so much?" he demanded.

"Really, James? You have to ask? How many virgins do you think are sitting in those classrooms? Today the average age for first time sex is fourteen years old. How many eighteen year olds could we have picked from?"

"Pretty much this entire student body, I'd guess," he smirked."Excluding Rose Hale and probably Alice Brandon."

"What?" she shrieked. "What the hell are they doing there? Did you hire them without telling me? You do realise the budget we are working with, James."

"No, I didn't hire anyone. But speaking of that, did you hire another guy? Edward Cullen?"

"Who?" she ranted.

"Doesn't matter. It's just to me it looks like he might be the one with the best chance. Bella doesn't actually turn and run if he sits beside her. She is petrified of Emmett, Jasper seems off his face most of the time, and Jake is…"

"Is what?"

"Jake is already sleeping in Rose Hales bed."

"Shit. I was counting on him to win over Bella. Who could resist? Can you haul him out of Rose's bed and remind him who is paying his wage?"

"I don't think he cares. I think the 'wages' he is getting paid are a whole lot more attractive than the paltry pay packet we are giving him."

James could hear the steam erupting from Victoria's ears.

"Well, can you put this Edward guy on the team? I'll send you a contract for him to sign."

"I'm not sure he would go for it. He doesn't seem the type of guy one can buy. Send me a release. He might sign that. Carefully worded."

"But you think Bella is interested in him?"

"No, I don't know. I said she doesn't seem as intimidated by him. I don't mean she is going to ask him to the Sadie Hawkins Dance. To be honest, I think this whole things a bust. I can't see her getting laid until her 40's and even then, she will demand a ring on her finger. Bella is just not the goodtime girl type. I think she will surrender her virginity on her wedding night."

"Fuck, James. Maybe you need to pull her aside and teach her about the birds and the bees and get her all hot and heavy for whichever guy stands the best chance of being her first. Take her on a date or something. Or just a tour of the backseat of your car."

"I'll keep you updated. Gotta go."

He ended the call and sighed.

 _Burger Brigade here I come. Would you like fries with that?_

Xxxxxxxxxx

James managed to corner Bella the next day and take her for coffee.

She was of course, nervous and scared as she always was if any male paid her the slightest bit of attention.

"What's wrong? It's going badly, right? You are dropping the whole idea. You want your money back."

"No. No, Bella. We just need some...progress. We have plenty of footage already of you, at home, at school, with your girlfriends. Everyone will have seen by now what a sweet and pretty girl you are, and they will all be on your side and want to see you ...viewers are going to want you to see you start to date."

"Date?" she replied, as if he had just suggested the viewers want to see her pole dance.

"Sure, That's what the whole show is about. A pretty girl next door meeting her first love and maturing into an adult...and doing things adults do."

"Like….you don't mean….."

"Did you read your contract? I think you need to go home and read the whole thing. You are contractually obliged to have some progressive interaction with a male or some males, whatever. Maybe ask some boy to the Sadie Hawkins Dance?"

"But I don't...I can't dance."

"Okay. Then let's enrol you at the local dance studio and remedy that right now."

"You can do that?" she asked,

"Sure, I can do anything that gets us further along for the show. And believe me, you need to agree to the dance lessons because Victoria's idea of how to get you to make progress is a lot less pretty than mine. Okay? I will go book you in. First lesson Monday afternoon after school?"

James called Emmett and Jasper and got their agreements and booked private lessons for six students. The boys could bring along a couple of girls but he would inform the teacher in very clear and precise words that the focus was on Bella, and getting her comfortable in the arms of the boys. The other girls were merely props.

Now for some rest and recreation for the rest of the weekend.

He scrolled through his phone and selected Jessica. He hadn't even asked her her surname.

"Hey, want to hang out? We can do dinner and a movie, or whatever."

"Whatever sounds great but yes, let's eat first. You will need the fuel. I've been wanting to try that new restaurant in Port Charles."

"I'll book us a table, and pick you up at six?"

"Cool, I'll try and find something suitable to wear."

"Clothes don't make the woman, Jessica. I'd like you just as much naked. More, probably."

She laughed, and gave me her address. I headed back to my hotel to take a nice long cold shower, so I'd calm down long enough to eat.

Xxxxxxxx

Monday afternoon arrived and I herded the group of six into my newly rented passenger van and headed for the dance studio.

Emmett had somehow managed to drag Rose away from Jake for the afternoon and Jasper had invited Alice as his partner. Edward sat silently beside Bella, and James watched in amusement in the rear view mirror as they did the side glance thing at one another.

He was sure by now that Edward was The One.

Bella looked….different.

The girls had indeed highlighted her hair with a subtle red that only showed in the sunlight, and although she wore makeup, it was cleverly done so as to just bring out the beauty, not smother it or look like a mask. And gone were the ugly shapeless hoodies and yoga pants. The dress she was wearing was too well cut to have been bought off the rack. He suspected it belonged to Alice. It hugged Bella's slim body in all the right places, and accentuated her assets. To his surprise, Bella actually had quite perfect legs. Even though she was short, her legs seemed to go on forever and were shapely and not the least bit boyish, as he had pictured in his mind.

She knew she looked good and it had changed her whole self image.

He had caught the moment she saw herself in a mirror, and that footage was amazing. Like she finally saw herself clearly for the first time.

He wanted to laugh at all the expense it had cost Victoria for what turned out to be a bunch of useless actors.

Sure, Mike had made a few feeble efforts to ask Bella out, and Eric had suggested they go to Prom together, at the end of the school year? How long did he imagine this job was going to last? It had better be done and dusted long before Prom.

Ben was fast becoming best buds with Angela, so he was a waste of space.

Emmett had followed orders and invited Bella out several times but she had hardly been able to even reply, always in the negative, before she ran as far and fast away as she could.

There was no way she would ever consider him.

Jasper had asked Bella out but even if she had been interested, the fact he asked just about every other girl in his radius out as well possibly had ruined his chances. He didn't seem to care if James reported his antics back to the Boss Lady.

His band was doing surprisingly well and he was booking gigs left and right, and not just for students parties, so he had pretty much thrown in the towel as well.

So, Edward it was.

The dance instructor listened patiently and when he tried to suggest maybe he needed to be fair and devote his time to the other two pairs, James waved a fist full of green at him and he shut up.

As James half expected, Alice could have run her own dance classes and needed no instruction and Rosalie seemed to know only one type of dancing, dirty dancing, and she and Emmett showed no signs of wanting to learn anything else, so Bella and Edward were the only two actual pupils.

At the beginning, James feared Bella would freeze or run, but actually once Edward put his arms around her, she seemed to thaw and even enjoy the lessons. By the end of the second hour, they were the only two left in the room other than James and the instructor, and James was pretty sure he'd be paying to have the car seats steam cleaned when he returned the rental.

He shook his head. Now, had the show been about the sex life of Rosalie Hale, they would have had a certain surefire hit on their hands.

Xxxxxxxxx

To his surprise, James found himself quite intrigued as he watched Bella bloom and grow, and fall hopelessly in love with Edward Cullen.

Edward seemed just as besotted and by the fourth week, James was pretty sure he would be able to deliver exactly what Victoria was asking.

They seemed unaware of the camera by this stage and James kept as low a profile as he could. He'd invested in a long range lens so when the lovebirds wanted 'some privacy' they got it...or at least the illusion.

He sent everything he filmed on and for once Victoria was satisfied with progress.

Edward was quite the gentleman and took Bella to dinner, dancing, to the cinema, James was wishing they'd move to the next level and start spending some time in bed, so he could get some rest. He seemed to be on the go almost 24/7 as the lovebirds visited the beach, the forest, one another's family.

The Sadie Hawkins Dance was surely going to end in the way many Poms used to end, in a hotel room away from parents and other spectators.

James was so sure it would be The Night that he had already booked them a room at a nearby hotel, and fitted that room out with some very invisible surveillance cameras so he could capture the moment without being there. No doubt if either Bella or Edward had properly read their contacts they would have known to keep everything under the sheets, but as luck would have it, Bella actually paraded herself around the room in some almost non existance piece of black lace lingerie only Alice could have bought.

And Edward seemed to forget anything else existed. Like a bedsheet.

He drew her down onto the bed and kicked the bedlinen off the end, creating the perfect set up to record every single move unhindered.

And when he watched the footage later, James was almost moved to tears.

He had no idea sex could be like that.

Not that they had been athletic or exotic.

It had been like every girl wished for, and imagined it could be.

Soft, gentle, loving….

He felt almost dirty for watching such a private and intimate act.

To his surprise he actually considered calling Victoria and telling her it hadn't happened. That Bella and Edward had argued, broken up, and the whole thing was a bust. But sitting down to lunch in the local burger bar strengthened his resolve to hand it over, and enjoy the rewards.

It would be a groundbreaking show.

For the first time people would be vicariously feeling the love between the players rather than using the sex for a turn on.

He himself had never experienced anything even remotely like it, and suddenly that was what he wanted.

Not the energetic workouts he indulged in with all the Jessicas and Victorias in his life. Not the empty sport played in a bed or the backseat of a car.

He wanted feelings and God willing, he wanted some girl to look at him in complete adoration like Bella had looked at Edward.

By the third viewing, it had become a beautiful and precious piece of art and he knew he had to share it to the world.

He wanted every young girl to demand this type of intimacy and not settle for a quick, one sided fumble with a boy who lusted only for his own pleasure.

He convinced himself he'd shot the ultimate How To guide for virgins of both genders.

Do it this way, make it into a memory that will last a lifetime.

Every woman viewing who had experienced such a beautiful introduction to love making themselves would instantly be thrown back to their own first time, and everyone who hadn't could overwrite their own memory and substitute it with this. Change history.

When you looked at it this way, it was far more a gift to women everywhere, rather than a betrayal to two people.

He sent the footage before he could change his mind again.

xxxxxxxxxxx

James was surprised at how hard he found it to look Bella, or Edward for that matter, in the face. He had only done his job, after all.

And in a way, his pushing them into dance lessons had started the whole ball rolling so to speak. If not for them, they'd still be making cow eyes at one another across the lunchroom, and neither would make the first move.

They'd leave Forks High with 'the one that got away' regret.

He had saved them from that.

Without him they would have never fallen in love and clearly first time love was something beautiful and precious. He had gifted this to them.

The fact that an entire nation would see everything did not devalue it at all, he told himself.

Anyway, soon it would be done and dusted and he'd never have to see them again.

He was glad for that mercy.

Imagine having to see their faces when the whole of America had been there in bed with them that first time.

"So, job done, I can go to Seattle and make some proper music?," Jasper asked.

"Um, sure, thanks for your participation," James answered, shaking the hand offered. "Good luck with the band, and the future. Nice to have met you."

"Yeah, it's been ...interesting," Jasper replied with a grin.

"So, you and Alice…" James queried.

"The moment she graduates, she is coming on the road with me. I'm taking her to Prom," he added bashfully.

"Cool. Well, good luck."

Emmett was happy to stick around and finish the year. It seemed he was neatly wrapped around Rose's little finger and had no intention of returning to his former life even after graduation. He would go wherever Rosalie wanted to go; follow her to the ends of the Earth if necessary.

James wished him well and wondered what Jacob Black had to say about it.

"He's gone back to the Res. I think the whole thing was a little too 'High School' for him" Emmett stated.

He didn't bother tracking down the other actors. He was pretty sure they wouldn't even notice his absence.

Xxxxxxxxxx

Edward was standing beside his car as James left.

"Hey, thanks."

"For what?" James asked.

"Everything. I know it would never have ended this way if you hadn't been here doing the documentary thing."

James shifted uncomfortably. He shrugged.

"Just doing my job."

"Bella and I would never have got together, let's face it. Thanks, man. We will name our firstborn after you."

"Whoa. Are you serious?" James exclaimed.

"Bella wants us to be married before we get a place to live while we are at college. I know she's the only girl for me, so why not? Her father wasn't too pleased until she pointed out we would live together regardless, so he decided he would prefer a ring on her finger after all."

"Wow. Well, best of luck and all that.."

James shook Edward's hand and hoped the guy couldn't read his mind and know how ashamed he felt in that moment.

Maybe he could stop this.

Maybe he could convince Victoria the whole thing was in bad taste and….

He sighed.

That was never going to happen.

"Have you got all you need?" Edward asked."We'd be cool with you attending our engagement party if you want to end it with that."

"Thanks. Thanks so much," James replied. "Maybe I will stick around a few more days then."

Victoria jumped at the idea, as he knew she would, so James continued capturing the happiest moments of Edward and Bella's life together so far on tape so he'd have something to give them that they would actually want to keep.

Once they saw the sex tape, he was pretty sure they'd change their mind about naming their future baby James.

But if they could pull together and survive the fallout of the tv show, he was sure they had what it took for a very long, happy ever after.

Which just goes to prove how wrong a person can be.

xxxxxxxxxxxx


	3. Chapter 3

Epilog

James' POV

xxxxxxxxxx

"Victoria," I gasped, still in shock as I all but ran into her office. I had to tell her this face to face. God knows how I had survived the trip back. I was barely aware of getting on the flight. It had taken both mere seconds, and forever. My brain could not process time.

"Something terrible has happened. Something so bad. I just didn't ever think this could…"

"James. What is it? Oh no, don't tell me she eloped? Don't tell me they have run off and we won't get our finale, after all the work and money and.."

"Victoria. She's dead. Bella is dead."

"What the…"

For a moment I thought she actually did possess a human heart, and she was as shocked and dismayed as I was, at the news that a young, pretty girl with her whole life ahead of her had died. She looked so pale, like she might even faint. Maybe I had misread her all these years?

"Oh my God, James. What happened?"

"She was crossing the road. Edward was waiting for her on the other side. They were going to their engagement party. Her Mom had flown into town and set it up as a surprise and all Edward had to do was get her there safely and she was crossing the road.."

I could see it in my mind's eye, over and over.

"And what? What happened?"

"A car. A student driver. He was driving too fast and the ice on the road….he skidded and..slammed into her. She was crushed to death between two cars, his and...Edward's. Right in front of his eyes. I have never seen a guy look more devastated. He tried to save her but...there was no hope."

I felt as if I was in a deep dark hole with no hope of ever seeing the light again. And I really barely knew Bella, let alone liked her much. How Edward would ever cope….

"James," Victoria screeched.

"Hmm?" I answered, trying to stop the horror movie in my brain.

"Tell me you got it on tape?"

"Whaa?"

"Tell me you filmed it. Do you realise what we have?"

I nodded dumbly.

"I filmed it. I lived it, Victoria. I was right there. I could have almost reached out and touched her."

"Yes!" Victoria exclaimed. "I'm seeing an Emmy in this! First reality tv show to end in an actual death!"

THE END


End file.
